Incivility at Academic Conferences: Gender Differences and the Mediating Role of Climate

In a survey study of 458 U.S. women and men, we examined experiences of incivility at an academic conference, a context that represents an important extension of the academic/professional workplace. We hypothesized and found that women reported more incivility, perceived the climate to be more sexist, and reported more conference exclusion than men. Counter to our prediction, men and women did not differ in how negatively they viewed the climate or their conference satisfaction. Since incivility may be a subtle form of bias that targets women more than men, women’s experiences of incivility may lead them to view the environment as more sexist. We found support for this, such that the relationship between incivility and sexist climate perceptions were stronger for women than men. Finally, we proposed that incivility would be related to negative conference outcomes through more negative perceptions of the conference climate for both genders, and through sexist climate perceptions only for women. Results of our path analyses indicated that positive, but not sexist, climate perceptions mediated the relationship between incivility and conference satisfaction for both genders. Further, both sexist and positive climate perceptions mediated the relationship between incivility and conference exclusion for both genders. We discuss incivility as a gendered phenomenon related to sexist contexts, as well as reasons for the observed mediated relationships. Additionally, we discuss the significant role that conference experiences may play for women and men in academia and professional settings, and implications for conference organizers.     

Inferring sexual interest from behavioral cues: Effects of gender and sexually relevant attitudes

Research has found that men impute more sexual meaning to others' behavior than do women. However, little research has examined the possibility that men and women share perceptions of the sexual connotativeness of certain behaviors but diverge in their perceptions of other behaviors. In Study 1, 162 male and 186 female undergraduates, predominantly Caucasian, rated the degree to which each of 27 behaviors of male and female targets connoted a desire for sexual intercourse. Multivariate analyses of variance revealed that, whereas men perceived all but two of the female target behaviors more sexually than women, men and women differed in their perceptions of the sexual connotativeness of only about half of the male target behaviors. A factor analysis revealed three factors for both male and female target behaviors, reflecting mundane dating behaviors, romantic behaviors, and sexual behaviors. Relative to women, men perceived only the mundane dating behaviors more sexually, although regression analyses showed these effects to be moderated by subjects' attitudes toward women. Study 2 examined the extent to which sexually relevant attitudes (e.g., sex role stereotyping, adversarial sexual beliefs, and rape myth acceptance) moderate subjects' perceptions of the sexual connotativeness of the behaviors. Men, particularly those who endorsed traditional, sexually relevant attitudes, were more likely than women to impute sexual meaning to the behaviors. The implications of this for dating situations are discussed.The author wishes to thank Mark Leary and two anonymous reviewers for their comments and suggestions on earlier versions of this article.     

People's Perceptions of Women's and Men's Worry about Life Issues: Worrying about Love, Accomplishment, or Money?

The study was designed to examine people's perceptions of women's and men's worry about life issues and self-perceptions of worry. Some undergraduates (n = 498) rated typical women's or men's worry, and others (n = 396) rated significant others' worry based on the Worry Domain Questionnaire (Tallis, Eysenck, & Mathews, 1992). As expected, participants perceived women as worrying more than men do about relationships, when they rated typical or significant others. As well, they rated typical men as worrying more than typical women about achievement and finances. Participants who rated significant others' worry also rated their own worry and parallel findings were expected. However, women tended to report more worry about achievement than men did. Overall, the findings indicate that the better people know their targets, the less likely they are to perceive their worry in gender stereotypical terms. This article is partially based on Wendy-Jo Wood's Master's thesis.     

A Critical Test of Self‐Enhancement,Exposure, and Self‐Categorization Explanations for First‐ and Third‐Person Perceptions

The third‐person perception is the tendency for people to believe that others are more influenced by media content than themselves (W. P. Davison, 1983 ). The current study provides a critical test of self‐enhancement, exposure, and self‐categorization explanations for first‐ (i.e., self more influenced than others) and third‐person perceptions. Male and female participants (N = 323) judged the extent to which pornography elicited“aroused and excited” (i.e., male normative) versus“repulsed and offended” (i.e., female normative) reactions in themselves relative to average men and women. Men perceived an average woman to be more repulsed and offended by pornography than themselves, and women perceived an average man to be more aroused and excited than themselves (i.e., large third‐person perceptions). Further, men perceived themselves to be more aroused and excited by pornography than an average woman (independent of the degree to which pornography was judged as antisocial), and women perceived themselves to be more repulsed and offended than an average man (i.e., large first‐person perceptions). There were relatively small effects for same sex comparisons independent of norm. The pattern and magnitude of first‐ and third‐person perceptions are consistent with self‐categorization theory, irreconcilable with the exposure hypothesis, and difficult to reconcile with the self‐enhancement explanation.     

Gender and the Choice of a Science Career: The Impact of Social Support and Possible Selves

This study examined the relationships among perceived social support, beliefs about how one would fare in a science career, and perceptions and choice of a career in science. Participants were 48 men and 33 women from the Midwestern United States who had been identified as gifted in mathematics and science and participated in a high school science enrichment program. They ranged in age from 24 to 28?years old, and the sample was predominantly White (83.3%). Participants completed an online measure approximately 10?years after the program ended examining their sources of support and beliefs about the self as a scientist to see how these variables influence perceptions of a science career and actual career. We expected that the relationship between perceived support from people and current job held would be mediated by participants’ beliefs about their personal life as a scientist in the future. Similarly, we expected that the relationship between a perceived supportive environment and having a science career would be mediated by participants’ beliefs about their career as a scientist in the future. Findings indicated that social support contributed directly to men’s and women’s ability to envision themselves in a future science career, which, in turn, predicted their interest in and motivation for a science career. No significant gender differences were found in the predictors of men’s and women’s perceptions and choice of a science career. Implications for recruitment of students into scientific majors and careers are discussed.     

MEASURING PERCEPTIONS OF THE WORKING ENVIRONMENT FOR WOMEN IN CORPORATE SETTINGS

This study developed a scale to measure individual perceptions of dimensions of the work organization that contribute to a supportive or hostile environment for women. Based on analysis of survey data from 398 respondents working in corporate settings, a scale was developed to measure five dimensions: Dual Standards & Opportunities; Sexist Attitudes & Comments; Informal Socializing; Balancing Work & Personal Obligations; and Remediation Policies & Practices. Women perceived their work environments as significantly more hostile on all five dimensions than did men. Scores on the scale were related to intent to stay with the organization: For both men and women, the friendlier they perceived the work environment for women to be, the longer individuals intended to stay at the company.     

Perspectives on self and other: Male-female differences in perceptions of communication behavior

Two studies were conducted to examine male-female differences in perceptions of subjects' own and their best-liked others' communication behavior. The results of the first study indicated that males and females hold relatively stereotypical views of their own communication behavior. Males perceived themselves as more controlling and detached, while females saw themselves as more nurturant and more dependent. The results from the second study indicated that the discriminating dimensions for the same-sex friendships of both males and females were attention-seeking and self-dramatizing communication behaviors. In an opposite-sex relationship, however, the discriminating communication behaviors for males and females were nurturance and dependency. The implications of these findings are discussed.Both authors would like to thank Edmund Kaminski, currently a doctoral candidate at Michigan State University, for his valuable assistance on this project.     

Flirtatious Communication: An Experimental Examination of Perceptions of Social-Sexual Communication Motivated by Evolutionary Forces

Guided by Relational Framing and Parental Investment Theories, this investigation examined experimentally induced flirtatious interactions. United States undergraduates (N?=?252) from the Mid-Atlantic region viewed a flirtatious interaction and rated a confederate on physical and social attraction, affiliation, dominance, and conversational effectiveness. Generally, it was hypothesized that different flirting motivations would lead to different evaluations of the flirters, and perceptions of flirters would vary based on gender. Results revealed that men were evaluated as more dominant and affiliative than women when flirting, but dominance in men was not perceived as attractive or conversationally effective. In addition, men??s attraction to women increased significantly when women flirted for sexual motives, and women??s attraction to men decreased significantly when men flirted for fun. Overall, the results provide mixed support for both theories.     

Are Women Perceived as Engaging in More Maladaptive Worry Than Men? A Status Interpretation

Studies 1 and 2 addressed people's perceptions of women's and men's overall maladaptive worry. In Study 1, participants rated how they perceive women's and men's worry in general. In Study 2, participants rated the worry of either a woman or a man whom they know well. As expected in both studies, participants perceived women as experiencing more maladaptive worry than men. A second objective was to compare people's perceptions of women's and men's worry to their perceptions of low- and high-status individuals' worry to determine if a status model can account for the perception that women worry more than men. In Study 3, participants were presented a minimal instantiation of status (Conway, Pizzamiglio, & Mount, 1996). As expected, participants perceived low-status individuals as experiencing more maladaptive worry than high-status individuals. Findings are discussed in terms of gender stereotypes and theoretical models of gender.     

Political Ideology Outdoes Personal Experience in Predicting Support for Gender Equality

Indices of gender equality provide an inconsistent picture of current gender inequality in countries with relatively high equality. We examined women's and men's subjectively perceived gender inequality and their support for gender equality in the general population and in politicians, respectively, in three countries with relatively high gender equality: the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany (total N = 1,612). In both women's and men's perceptions, women were treated more unequally than men. However, the inequality that women perceived was larger than the inequality men perceived. Additionally, women reported they personally experience less inequality than women as a group (person-group discrepancy). Finally, women's and men's left/liberal (vs. right/conservative) political ideology turned out to be a relatively more powerful predictor of support for gender equality than perceived personal and societal inequality. We discuss reasons for why political ideology emerged as the strongest predictor of equality support and sketch out implications for policy efforts toward promoting gender equality.     

Traditional vs. nontraditional women and men's perceptions of the personalities and physiques of ideal women and men

Traditional and nontraditional women and men's perceptions of ideal people, in terms of both traits and physiques, were assessed using 80 male and 80 female Caucasian undergraduates as study participants. The data indicated that traditional women and men perceived the ideal male as mesomorphic and as having more instrumental than expressive traits. Nontraditional women and men also favored a mesomorphic physique for the ideal male, but they differed from traditionals in that they saw this mesomorphic male as being androgynous in regard to traits. Concerning the ideal female, traditional and nontraditional women and men preferred an androgynous physique, but they differed in their perceptions of the ideal personality for a woman. Traditional women and men perceived their ideal women as having more expressive than instrumental traits, whereas nontraditional women and men saw their ideal women as being androgynous in regard to traits. The results are discussed within the framework of Bem's gender schema and enculturated lens theories.     

A model of career success: A longitudinal study of emergency physicians

Objective and subjective career success were hypothesized to mediate the relationships between sociodemographic variables, human capital indices, individual difference variables, and organizational sponsorship as inputs and a retirement decision and intentions to leave either the specialty of emergency medicine (EM) or medicine as output variables. Objective career success operationalized as the number of leadership positions held did not mediate the relationship, but income change and career satisfaction mediated the relationship between the hours worked and years employed in emergency medicine. Work centrality was significantly related to subjective career success more so for men than women and perceptions of success or self-efficacy were positively related to subjective career success for women, but not for men. The expected pattern of women indicating more difficulties with personal time and family time did not emerge; but women did indicate less perceived support from the organization, fewer EM leadership positions, less perceived control over their work situation and less organizational support than did men.     

Sex differences in interaction style as a product of perceived sex differences in competence

Males' and females' interaction styles were observed while they worked in four-person, mixed-sex groups on a discussion task. In some groups, members were only given information about each others' names and gender. In this circumstance, men were perceived by themselves and other group members to be higher in competence than women. Further, men engaged in a greater amount of active task behavior than women (e.g., giving information, giving opinions), and women exhibited a greater amount of positive social behavior than men (e.g., agreeing, acting friendly). In other groups, members' competency-based status was manipulated by providing false feedback that they were high or low relative to their group in intellectual and moral aptitude. High status members were then perceived to be more competent than low status ones and, further, high status individuals engaged in more active task and less positive social behavior than low status ones. In this condition, no sex differences were obtained on perceived competence or on active task or positive social behavior. Overall, these findings support the idea that the gender differences obtained in interaction when status was not specified were partially a function of group members' belief that the sexes differ in competence. Direct information concerning members' intellectual and moral competence apparently blocked the perceived gender-to-competence link, and status alone affected perceived competence and interaction style.     

TOWARD AN UNDERSTANDING OF GENDER DIFFERENCES IN INFERRING SEXUAL INTEREST

Research has shown that, after brief opposite-gender interactions, men perceive women more sexually than women perceive men (e.g., Abbey, 1982 ). This study examined interpersonal perceptions following dyadic cross-gender interactions between unacquainted individuals. Of particular concern were perceptions of sexual traits, interaction qualities, and physical attractiveness. The influence of being gender schematic on sexual judgments was examined. The results provide further support for Abbey's finding that men oversexualize women following brief interactions but failed to support the hypothesized gender schema effects. Additional analyses suggest the presence of another gender difference in judging attraction. Women who rated their partners as physically attractive also attributed more positive qualities to their partner and the interaction. By contrast, men's ratings of women revealed more limited associations with perceived physical attractiveness. Results are discussed in terms of gender differences in judging sexual attraction, the correlates of physical attractiveness, and continuing efforts to explain oversexualization.     

《1844年经济学哲学手稿》伦理思想研究

《手稿》较之马克思的其它著作有较为丰富的伦理思想,但其仍不是一本伦理学专著。综观《手稿》,其伦理思想,似可包括如下几方面:一是劳动异化和共产主义理论的人本价值导向;二是人论思想,奠定了马克思主义伦理学的理论基础;三是关于经济伦理或对资产阶级经济伦理的批判;四是其它伦理学观点。     

Beauty and the attributions of the beholder

Four studies used an attributional approach to examine interpersonal attraction. Underlying causal dimensions were predicted to influence differentially two components of attraction, dating and complimenting. In the first study, 24 subjects indicated whether they would date physically attractive stimulus persons. Complimenting was examined in the second and third studies, with 24 subjects rating the likelihood of complimenting attractive opposite-sex stimulus persons and 32 subjects rating the likelihood of complimenting same-sex stimulus persons. For these studies the reason for the stimulus person's attractiveness varied in controllability (volitional versus nonvolitional) and stability (temporary versus permanent). Consistent with predictions, controllability influenced likelihood of complimenting but not dating. In addition, compliments were more likely when the reason for attractiveness was unstable than when stable. Conversely, dating was more likely when attactiveness was stable than when unstable. However, stability had less influence on men responding to women than on either men responding to men or women responding to both sexes. Similar results were obtained in a fourth study in which 56 subjects recalled incidents where they complimented or dated others for their physical attractiveness.     

The influence of facial masculinity and voice pitch on jealousy and perceptions of intrasexual rivalry

The assessment of same-sex individuals as intrasexual competitors may depend in part on the perceived mate value of potential rivals. Men’s and women’s preferences for vocal and facial masculinity suggest that feminine women and masculine men may be perceived as more threatening intrasexual competitors. We tested the influence of men’s and women’s vocal and facial masculinity on preferences for who should accompany romantic partners on a weekend trip and on jealousy in response to imagined flirting. We found that men and women preferred their partners to be accompanied by people who had less masculine/feminine voices, and were more jealous in response to people who had relatively more masculine/feminine voices. Women, but not men, rated faces with exaggerated sex-typical characteristics as undesirable travel companions for their romantic partners and reported more jealousy in response to imagined flirting from such faces. We also found that participants who rated masculine male and feminine female stimuli as more attractive also perceived such stimuli as greater intrasexual threats, demonstrating individual differences in competition-related social perceptions. Our findings indicate that perceptions related to intrasexual competition are related to cues to underlying mate quality, which may aid in effective mate guarding.     

Gender and sex role differences in the perception of social support

This study examined the relationships among support types (i.e., emotional, instrumental, and nonintimate social participation), gender, sex role orientation, and stress level among college undergraduates (N=253). Dependent variables included need, perceived availability, and satisfaction with support. Sex differences were found only in emotional support, with men reporting less need, perceived availability, and marginally less satisfaction than women. The only gender by sex role interaction was on need for emotional support. Traditional sex-typed men reported less need than traditional women, whereas there was no difference between androgynous men and women. While sex differences do exist for emotional support, the effects of sex role orientation on perceptions of social support appears to be somewhat circumscribed.